Starbucks says it will now allow employees to wear T-shirts and accessories in support of Black Lives Matter, reversing course after news reports sparked a social media backlash.
“We see you. We hear you. Black Lives Matter. That is a fact and will never change,” the company said in a letter posted Friday. “This movement is a catalyst for change, and right now, it’s telling us a lot of things need to be addressed so we can make space to heal.”
Earlier this week, and first reported by BuzzFeed, the company turned down a request from baristas and other employees who wanted to show their support for the BLM movement. In a memo to its 250,000-member workforce, Diversity Officer Zing Shaw said “there are agitators who misconstrue the fundamental principles of the Black Lives Matter movement — and in certain circumstances, intentionally repurpose them to amplifying divisiveness.”
The news sparked backlash on social media, including calls to boycott the company, just days after Starbucks had issued a “Black Lives Matter” statement of solidarity and committed $1 million to social justice groups as protests broke out across the country following the death of George Floyd, a black man, in police custody.
On Friday, in a posting signed by Shaw, Chief Operating Officer Roz Brewer and Executive Vice President Rossann Williams, the company said it is producing T-shirts with “Black Lives Matter” and other slogans for staff in the United States and Canada to “demonstrate our allyship and show we stand together in unity.”
